The Union of South Africa was established on 31 May 1910, consisting of the four former colonies: the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. As a self-governing state of the British Empire, the Union remained under the formal rule of the British crown, represented in South Africa by a Governor-General. When South Africa obtained dominion status in 1910, General Louis Botha became the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa. He was a major player in the postwar reconstruction of my country after the Boer War.
The Botha government placed a high priority on creating a unified military out of the separate armies of the union’s four provinces. The Defence Act, Number 13 of 1912, established a Union Defence Force, or U.D.F., that included a Permanent Force of career soldiers, an Active Citizen Force of temporary conscripts and volunteers as well as a Cadet organization.
The Botha government also formed the South African Police force in 1913. Four years later, the Mounted Riflemen’s Association relinquished its civilian responsibilities to the S.A.P. as most of its riflemen left to serve in the first World War.
Botha amalgamated the four provincial Main Post Office administrations and placed them under a central control system.
All railways in South Africa became a unified state-owned railway system under General Botha’s leadership in 1916 when the Central South African Railways, the Cape Government Railways and the Natal Government Railways were merged by an Act of Parliament. Thus was born the South African Railways and Harbours (SAR&H).
The Botha government granted charters to three universities, with their respective centres at Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Pretoria.
The creation of a university at Stellenbosch was made possible by Mr Jan Marais of Coertzenburg; to the cause of higher education at Stellenbosch, he had donated the sum of £100000
Th Botha Government initiated the conservation efforts of the Union of South Africa. The administration proclaimed the Mkuze Game Reserve a protected area on 15 February 1912. The foundations for the establishment of the Kruger Park were laid by the Transvaal Volksraad in 1896, when the Rinderpest virus wiped out most of the Eastern Transvaal’s game and cattle. Aiming to preserve wildlife, the Transvaal Volksraad voted in favour of a small government game reserve. In 1916 Prime Minister Botha appointed a government commission to assess the future of the reserves. In 1926 the administration officially renamed the reserves after Paul Kruger, and declared it to be South Africa’s first National Park.
Paul Roos was the captain of the first Springbok team, which was largely dominated by players from the Western Province. The first tour of Britain took place in 1906 and 7 and took in 29 matches.
After the First World War started, Botha sent troops to take German South West Africa, a move unpopular among Boers. The Maritz Rebellion or the Boer Revolt, occurred in 1914, when men who supported the recreation of the old Boer republics rose up against the government of the Union of South Africa because of Botha’s action against the Germans. Siener van Rensburg, the respected Boer Prophet, joined the rebels. The rebellion failed, and the ringleaders received heavy fines and terms of imprisonment.
At the end of the War Botha briefly led a British Empire military mission to the Second Polish Republic during the Polish-Soviet War.
Botha argued that the terms of the Versailles Treaty were too harsh on the Central Powers, but still signed the treaty.
A number of laws controlling Indian immigration and commercial rights were passed by the Botha government. These laws were met with passive resistance from the Indians in South Africa. On 6 November 1913 Mahatma Ghandi led a March to protest against the legislation. He also entered into negotiations with the Botha government.
The Land Act of 1913 which set up the ‘reserves’, later called ‘bantustans’ and ‘homelands’ was also passed in this time. This law effectively zoned Africans to specific areas of South Africa. They were prevented from buying land outside these areas.
In response African intellectual leaders come together on January 8 in Bloemfontein and elect John Dube President of the South African Native National Congress. The two men most involved in bringing this to fruition, Solomon Plaatje and Pixley ka Isaka Seme are elected Secretary-General and Treasurer-General respectively. (The organisation changed its name in 1923 to the African National Congress.).
In July 1913 moves to extend the pass laws to include women are met with determined resistance. In Winburg, Charlotte Maxeke, one of the organisers and spokeswomen of the anti-pass campaign, is arrested with 800 singing women on a march to the town hall.
Prime Minister Botha unexpectedly died in 1919 and Jan Smuts becomes the new Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.
Jack spijkerman brengt een bezoekje aan een boer die klaagt over een hogesnelheidslijn die over zijn land raast! Plots klinkt er een enorm kabaal en Jack duikt geschroken naar de grond. Hij kan niet gelove wat hij zojuist heeft gezien!
The Boer Republics (sometimes also referred to as Boer states) were independent self-governed republics created by the Dutch-speaking (proto Afrikaans) inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope and their descendants (variously named Trekboers, Boers and Voortrekkers, but today collectively known as Afrikaners) in mainly the northern and eastern parts of what is now the country of South Africa.
Although some of these republics were already founded from 1795 onwards during the period of Dutch colonial rule at the Cape, most of these states were established after Britain took over from the Netherlands as the colonial power at the Cape of Good Hope. Subsequently a number of its Dutch-speaking (proto-Afrikaans often called “die taal”) inhabitants trekked inland in 1835 in order to escape British administrative control in a movement that became known as the Great Trek. Several of these states were established after military defeats of the indigenous population by the Voortrekkers/Boers by virtue of their technologically superior weaponry.
The Voortrekker usually skirted the most densely populated areas, trekking into largely depopulated areas which were the result of the Mfecane or Difaqane initiated by the Zulu King Shaka in the 1820s. When the Voortrekkers encountered locally established groups/nations, they tended to opt to negotiate, turning to warfare only when attacked.
The Voortrekkers under the leadership of Piet Retief obtained a treaty from the Zulu King Dingane to settle part of the lands the Zulus administered or held sway over, but Dingane later changed his mind, killing Retief and 70 members of his delegation. Dingane’s impis (Zulu warriors) then went on to kill almost 300 Voortrekkers who had settled in the Natal region.
After Andries Pretorius was recruited to fill the leadership vacuum created by the deaths of Piet Retief and Gerhard Maritz, he initially offered to negotiate for peace with Dingane if he were to restore the land he had initially offered to Retief. [1] Dingane responded by attacking the Voortrekkers; on 16 December 1838 the battle of Nacome River (later named the Battle of Blood River) occurred, during which 300 Voortrekkers survived and won a decisive battle against thousands of Dingane’s impis.
The Natalia Republic was established in 1839 by the local Boers after Pretorius entered into an alliance with Mpande, the new Zulu king.
The territories north of the Vaal River in the Transvaal were officially recognized as independent by Great Britain with the signing of the Sand River Convention on 17 January 1852. [2] The territories and districts of the Transvaal were Potchefstroom, Lydenburg and Zoutpansberg, which united in 1857 to form the South African Republic.
The Orange Free State was recognized as independent by Great Britain on 17 February 1854. The Orange Free State became officially independent on 23 February 1854 with the signing of the Bloemfontein or Orange River Convention. The Orange Free State was nicknamed the model republic.
The New Republic (comprising the town of Vryheid) was established in 1884 on land given to the local Boers by the Zulu King Dinuzulu the son of Cetshwayo after he recruited local Boers to fight on his side. The Boers were promised and granted land for their services & were led by Louis Botha who would go on to prominence during the second Anglo-Boer War. This republic was later absorbed into the Transvaal/South African Republic.
States were also established by other population groups, most notable the Griqua, a subgroup of South Africa’s heterogeneous and multiracial Coloured people. Most notable among these were Griqualand West and Griqualand East.
While some of these were mini-states which were relatively short-lived some, especially the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, developed into successful independent countries which along with Britain were also officially recognized by the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and the United States. [3] These two countries continued to exist for several decades, despite the First Boer War with Britain. However, later developments, including the discovery of diamonds and gold in these states, led to Second Boer War. In this war the Transvaal and Orange Free State were defeated and annexed by the overwhelmingly larger British forces and they officially ceased to exist on 31 May 1902 with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging. A new British colony, the Union of South Africa, was subsequently established in which the Transvaal and the Orange Free State became provinces along with the Cape and Natal.
(source: wikipedia)